New Orleans Saints rank among league's highest 'spenders'

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By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune
There are several reasons why the New Orleans Saints haven't been aggressive buyers in the free agent market, but one of the biggest reasons is that they ...

New Orleans Saints rank among league's highest 'spenders'
By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

There are several reasons why the New Orleans Saints haven't been aggressive buyers in the free agent market, but one of the biggest reasons is that they already rank as one of the NFL's biggest spenders with the players already on the books.

According to a report by Pro Football Talk and NBC Sports, the Saints' salary-cap figure would be $135 million right now if there was a salary cap in place - the second-largest in the NFL. General Manager Mickey Loomis said Monday that dollar figure is not accurate, but he did confirm, "Our cap number would be high."

"Relative to a lot of the other teams, we're higher than the halfway point. I'll say that," Loomis said, not offering a specific number.
The good news is that the Super Bowl champions don't have many holes to fill on their roster. They've lost only two starters from last year's roster - defensive end Charles Grant and linebacker Scott Fujita, with safety Darren Sharper's status still pending. And they have most of their key backups in the fold.

In other words, they're not in a rebuilding mode. But they do need to save room for long-term contract extensions for many of their core players, and they need to be mindful that a salary cap could return as soon as next season if a new collective bargaining agreement is reached between the owners and players.

"Look, we're gonna do what we've always done, which is if we feel like there's an area where we can help our team and it fits in our salary structure, we're gonna take a pretty hard look at it," Loomis said. "But we've also got to recognize that we've got some pretty significant free agents of our own that we need to get done. And the guys that were gonna do, the Jahri Evans, the Roman Harpers, the Pierre Thomases of our club, Dave Thomas ... you know, those guys are going to impact future years.
"We've got to pay attention to that, because obviously we're hopeful that there will be a CBA. And if there is and the rules are similar, we can't do things now just because it's an uncapped year without regard to how that might impact a future year."

Wasnt' the head of the players union quoted as saying, that if they have their way, there won't be a salary cap again? Ever?

But they won't have their way. Ever. This is the owners leauge and the owners money. They might budge on some small things but eventually the union will have to cave in. Players will start to get unhappy about not getting paid and older players will start worrying about being to old when play starts again if there is a lengthy lock-out.

Every employer has a salary budget. Even without the CBA limits, each organization has their own salary model that includes limits. We are going to lose some guys this year; its the nature of the beast, but we'll be fine. There will be new faces in Black&Gold, hopefully, helping the old faces to continue our winning ways.

Not sure what to think about this issue. I am sure guys like Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder don't give a rats butt about anything, but for the rest... The best thing is to put back into place what was before, that is the salary cap. The NFL has the best thing going in the world, I have no real clue on why anyone would want to mess with it. It would really suck butt if the NFL turns into major league baseball. There would be a few teams spending the big bucks, and a load others trying to save bucks. Eventually it could ruin the league.

I remember when the Saints would consistently get high draft picks then trade them away or sell them to the highest bidder so they could make a little money. Benson is willing to spend to win, however he doesn't seem to overspend though.

Not sure what to think about this issue. I am sure guys like Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder don't give a rats butt about anything, but for the rest... The best thing is to put back into place what was before, that is the salary cap. The NFL has the best thing going in the world, I have no real clue on why anyone would want to mess with it. It would really suck butt if the NFL turns into major league baseball. There would be a few teams spending the big bucks, and a load others trying to save bucks. Eventually it could ruin the league.